Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less

Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 9
Foreword......Page 15
Acknowledgments......Page 17
Preface......Page 19
Part One Awareness: Heightened Awareness wareness in a World Begging for BRIEF......Page 25
  Get to the Point or Pay the Price......Page 27
  Executive—Interrupted......Page 29
  Timing Is of the Essence......Page 33
  BRIEF Balance: The Harmony of Clear, Concise, and Compelling......Page 34
  A BRIEF Timeout......Page 35
  Brevity Is Like an Instant Stress Release......Page 37
  Battling Overcapacity......Page 38
  1. Information Inundation—The Water\'s Rising......Page 39
  2. Inattention—The Muscle Is Weakening......Page 41
  3. Interruption—The Rate Is Alarming......Page 43
  4. Impatience—The Ice Is Thinning......Page 45
  Your New Reality: There\'s No Time for a Slow Buildup......Page 46
  Examination of Brevity......Page 48
  A New Professional Standard......Page 49
  Why Is It So Difficult?......Page 51
  1. Cowardice......Page 52
  3. Callousness......Page 53
  4. Comfort......Page 54
  6. Complication......Page 55
  7. Carelessness......Page 56
  A Success Story......Page 59
Part Two Discipline: How to Gain Discipline to Be Clear and Concise......Page 65
  The Exercise of Brevity......Page 67
  Your 11th Grade English Teacher Was Right......Page 69
  An Outline Is Missing, and So Is the Sale......Page 71
  Mind Mapping and the Modern Outline......Page 73
  BRIEF Maps: A Practical Tool for Delivering Brevity......Page 75
  Wrong Approach: Bob Chooses to Share but Not to Prepare......Page 76
  Right Approach: Bob Prepares a BRIEF Map and Maintains Executive Support......Page 77
  BRIEF Maps: What\'s the Payoff?......Page 81
  I\'m Tired of Meaningless and Meandering Corporate Jargon. I\'m Ready for a Good Story......Page 83
  Where\'s the Disconnect? When a Story Is Missing......Page 86
  The Birth of Narrative Mapping: A Way to Organize and Deliver Your Story......Page 88
  Rediscovery of Narratives and Storytelling: Breaking through the Blah, Blah, Blah......Page 90
  Listen, I\'m Ready for a Story......Page 91
  Think About Your Audience: Journalism 2.0 and the Elements of a Narrative......Page 93
  Narrative Map (De)constructed......Page 99
  Seeing and Hearing Is Believing: The Story of the Evolution of Commerce......Page 100
 Chapter 8 Talk It: Controlled Conversations and TALC Tracks......Page 105
  Risky Business Trip......Page 106
  TALC Tracks—A Structure for Balance and Brevity......Page 108
  Be Prepared for Anything......Page 110
  Audience, Audience, Audience......Page 112
  Show-and-Tell: Which Would You Choose?......Page 115
  You Can See the Shift......Page 116
  Seeing Supersedes Reading......Page 117
  A Visual Language......Page 118
  Connect an Image with Your Story......Page 120
  Momentary Magic: Infographics in Business......Page 121
  Breakdown of Complex Information......Page 122
  The Age of YouTube and Business......Page 123
  TL; DR: Too Long; Didn\'t Read......Page 125
 Chapter 10 Putting Brevity to Work: Grainger and the Al and Betty Story......Page 129
Part Three Decisiveness: Gaining the Decisiveness to Know When and Where to Be Brief......Page 135
  Defeat the Villains of Meetings......Page 137
  Meeting Villain #1: Time......Page 138
  Meeting Villain #2: Type......Page 139
  Meeting Villain #3: Tyrants......Page 140
  Change the Format and Tone—Make It a Conversation......Page 142
  Put BRIEF Back into a Briefing......Page 143
  The Digital Flood......Page 147
  BRIEF Hall of Fame: Verne Harnish......Page 150
  From Social Media to Venture Capital......Page 152
  Social Media Squeeze......Page 154
  Practicing What You Preach......Page 157
  The Discipline of Brevity......Page 158
  Putting the Power Back in PowerPoint......Page 162
  Training as a TED Talk......Page 163
  Shut Up and Sell......Page 167
  Billboard on a Bumper Sticker......Page 168
  Time to Be Convincing and Concise......Page 170
  Cut to the Customer\'s Chase......Page 173
  Your Big Idea......Page 177
  A Mission-Critical Narrative......Page 178
  Clear Picture with Radical Focus......Page 181
  The Entrepreneur\'s Dilemma: Mixed Messages......Page 182
  Tailor Your Pitch to Your Investor\'s Needs......Page 185
  Brevity as a Conversational Life Raft......Page 189
  Momentary Misgivings Stall Momentum......Page 190
  Walk the Walk; Talk the Talk......Page 192
  Not the Time for Anxious Rambling......Page 197
  Let Others Lead the Conversation......Page 199
  Talking Your Way out of a Job Offer......Page 201
  Pay the Favor of Brevity Forward......Page 207
  Let the Brilliance Shine Through......Page 208
  Speak the Language of Success......Page 210
  Get into the Habit of Saying, \"Thank You\"......Page 211
  The Bright (and Brief) Side of Bearing Bad News......Page 213
  Give It to Them Straight......Page 214
  Serving up the S#&$ Sandwich......Page 216
  The \"Say-Do\'\' Ratio......Page 221
  Be Prepared to Be Lean and Drive Out Wasteful Words......Page 223
  The Most Important Question: Why Am I Here?......Page 228
Part Four Being BRIEF Summary and Action Plan......Page 231
Resources......Page 243
Notes......Page 245
About the Author......Page 249
Index......Page 251